Winter
by Goppo
Summary: Done
1. Chapter 1

**_This Christmas_**

**__**

The brightly lit flames rising from the warm fire danced along the wooden walls of the small log cabin. The room was empty. Silent. All that could be heard was the soft crackle of the fire every so often. The warmth radiating from the fire gave the cabin a homely look. Outside, star shaped snowflakes covered the once stone, cold ground in a blanket of heavenly whiteness. The snow never ceased here. It constantly sprinkled from the large fluffy clouds up above covering all who walked here in its radiance. Snow. A marvellous sight for all to see. Sadly though, only some cherished this sight.

Here, Trabia, was the coldest place in the world but yet, the most beautiful and since it was the season to be jolly, being in Trabia just added that little spice of jolliness to the atmosphere. The cabin was situated to the very north of the continent. Near the once bustling, Trabia Garden. It was empty now but soon it would be filled with the presence of two young adults; Rinoa Heartilly and her faithful knight, Squall Leonhart.

-

The cafeteria was their main room at Balamb garden, it was a genius invention: A place where you could eat and chat at the same time. Smart, right? Well, that's what everybody thought. A certain bunch of teenager sat at their regular seats, eating lunch. One of them was being harassed by two of the females in the group.

"Shut up, I'm the Hotdog King that's one title you can never take away from me." Zell pointed to himself with one hand while he waved a hotdog at his friends with his other.

"Gross." The instructor, Quistis, slapped the hotdog from his hand causing it to land on the floor. "If you ever wave another hotdog in my face again you will never eat another hotdog in your life." She threatened.

Irvine gave out a short 'oooh!' but was instantly shut up when he received a harsh glare from Quistis.

Zell on the other hand was on the floor, cradling his now diseased hotdog. "Wh-why Quistis?! Why!?!!" He sniffed, "Jessie did nothing to deserve this. She was supposed to join her other friends in my tummy - her other friends Quistis! Not all the stinking germs on the floor." He stood from the floor, turned his back on the group then walked swiftly toward the bin on the other end of the cafeteria. A soft prayer was spoken before the hotdog was thrown into the bin.

"Aww poor Zell… Maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on him about his hotdog obsession. They're like his kids, he even named that one; Jessie or something." Selphie stared at her friend muttering his prayer but then turned her attention back to the group. "So people, Christmas is just round the corner, what you all doin'?"

A few grumbles could be heard from the group which was not what Selphie had hoped to hear. Christmas was a time to spend with your family and since none of them actually had a proper family, including Rinoa as she never regarded General Caraway as being her father, Selphie thought that they may have already arranged something for the group to do together. Well, she was wrong. "None of you have made any plans for us yet?"

They all shook their heads.

"Great... Oh wait, now I get to plan what we can do for Christmas, yay! This actually is great! Thank you, guys!" She stood from her chair, performed a crazy spin then hopped out of the cafeteria, singing along the way.

"Be prepared for a fun Christmas!" Irvine said standing from his seat. "Selphie's never dull, believe me." Winking he turned and followed in Selphie's footsteps.

"Brilliant." Squall stated also standing from his chair, "I've got work to do." He walked away casually tossing a coin in the air whilst doing so.

The others, Rinoa, Zell and Quistis all talked about the normal, everyday things for a while before they all departed each having something to do. Rinoa went to Selphie to see what she had in mind for Christmas, Zell went to the training centre to well, work up a sweat and Quistis had class on the 2F classroom.

-

Posters of popular boy bands covered the small, hyperactive young adults' room. Her small bedroom, was like the suns bedroom. Everything was yellow. Yellow bedclothes, yellow walls, yellow cabinets, yellow everything: You name it. Selphie sat at her desk within the yellow room, biting on her tongue whilst writing short sentences on a page with one hand as her other rubbed her temples. She jumped as her door was knocked.

Rinoa poked her head in with a small grin on her face, "hey!" Casually striding toward Selphie she looked at the page her friend was writing on. "Ideas... Oh I see." Tapping the page in a Phoenix Wright style she stated, "Your ideas for our Christmas's right?"

"Yep!" Selphie bounced from her chair and snatched the page from Rinoa's hand. "You shouldn't be looking at that, it's gonna be a surprise!"

Rinoa eyed her suspiciously, "what if.. I don't like the surprise?"

Selphie shook her head vigorously, "Ooohh, believe me you'll love the surprise!" She looked around her room in search of someone. "You're the only one here, right?"

Rinoa nodded.

"Okay then, I'll tell you, but promise me you won't tell anybody else."

"Promise."

Selphie jumped up and down on the spot, "it involves us, shacking up in a log cabin!"

"..."

"Out in Trabia!" Her friend still seemed to show no interest.

"...A log cabin in Trabia?"

"A big log cabin in Trabia!" She emphasised how big it would be with her arms.

Rinoa thought for a second, "well if it's a big cabin.. Then that makes all the difference. " She said sarcastically. Selphie turned gloomily, saddened by the fact that her friend was not at all impressed with her idea. "So we'll all be spending Christmas together in this log cabin?"

Sniffing Selphie replied, "well that's what I had planned but if you don't like the idea.."

"I was only joking Selphie, it sounds like a brilliant idea!" Rinoa smiled. Selphie was one of the easiest people to fool. After their conversation the two women set to work to find the best place to book a log cabin for a cheap price. They were all on quite a tight budget with the buying of presents, clothes, turkey's, champagne etc. The only one they could actually afford was, 'Moonlight Snow,' but there was a problem with booking with this particular company, the biggest log cabin... "Okay, thank you."

Selphie clasped her hands together, "so it's all sorted?"

"Uhh yeah. One problem though, their biggest log cabin only holds three people."

"Say what?" Selphie said, staring at Rinoa. Her friend repeated what she said. "And.. You still booked them? Two big ones? But then.. How are we going to decide who stays in which? Aww Rin! We should just book a different cabin place, where we can all stay in the same room. Come on, let's ring them up and tell them we don't want to stay anymore."

Sadly, Rinoa shook her head. "No refunds Selph." Watching Selphie's reaction was pretty darn funny. Firstly, her friends face sort of twisted into a look of anger then sadness and then finally this really random look as if she was constipated or something. Rinoa chuckled.

"So what exactly did you book?"

Yawning Rinoa responded, "I booked three of the smaller cabins. That means two people can stay in each of them. I figured we could all have.. A romantic Christmas..?" She looked away, embarrassed.

"A romantic Christmas? ... Hmm, a romantic Christmas. Hey, that's a great idea!!" The two women started to shout and jump around, screaming, 'Romantic! Romantic!' everywhere but soon shut up as they heard a knock on the door. "Hello?" Called Selphie.

The familiar scent of Irvine Kinneas filled the room, followed by the good old cowboy hat appearing from behind the door. "Well I'll be, if it ain't my two favourite gals in the whole wide world!" He cooed strolling into Selphie's room and plopping himself on the bed. "So, what're you two ladies up to?"

Selphie grinned and jumped on top of him, screeching, "Romantic Christmas!" -All over the place. Once she had gathered herself, she told Irvine all about shacking up with him, in a 'romantic' log cabin. To be perfectly honest, he seemed even happier than both Rinoa and Selphie put together.

-

Everyday was the same. Wake up, get washed, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to office then work for most of the day. It was a routine that a certain Commander knew of by heart. Scribbling down notes about Gardens finances, Squall looked at the small, metal clock resting on his desk. One o 'clock it read. _Only six more hours till I can rest. __Great._I suppose one particular person made his routine a little well, a lot more interesting than what it was made out to be..

Barging through the door without knocking could only result in one person. "Rinoa, hey. Something up?" Squall asked not looking up from his notes.

Giggling Rinoa replied, "Knew it was me eh?"

Squall nodded still not bothering to look up.

Singing she said, "Well Squall, I bare great tidings!" She expanded her arms to the ceiling.

Finally looking up he gave her a look of- 'Is there a reason for why you are singing?'

"Get your attention," She replied meekly, "Anyways! I do bring news about our Christmas plans."

"Hmm?"

"How would you feel about shacking up with Zell in a log cabin over Christmas?" He stared at her for a minute waiting for her to laugh or make some kind of gesture that she was only messing around. After about three minutes of complete silence Rinoa began to feel a bit awkward. "Well?"

"You're joking." He turned his attention back to the page resting on his desk. "Your eyes always turn yellow when you lie."

"...Seriously? Are they yellow now? Oh my God, Squall! Are they yellow!?"

"So you are joking!" He looked up at her again, grinning. "Why would they be yellow Rin if you weren't joking?" Stretching he laughed at her. "I am good."

"That was the most pathetic way to trick someone ever!"

"There yellow again."

"Shut up."

They always seemed to crack up at one another - One way or the other, of course most of the time it was just joking around. Their relationship wasn't that complex, they were happy with each other and they didn't need to show it for the entire world. Many people in Garden always seemed to think that they were arguing or were always angry with each other but that wasn't the case: Squall wasn't exactly the most open person in the world, expressing his feelings wasn't on his top five list of things to do, so it was mostly when it was just himself and Rinoa that he would express his feelings and she loved it like that... At times.

Rinoa was.. Well let's, just say she enjoyed certain things at one point and then hated them at another. By Squall not expressing his feelings for her as much as she wanted him to, normally she got pretty angry, but knowing that once they were together and it was only her and him, he would open up to her, that was what made her day. Always having something to look forward to just sprinkled that little special feeling to those boring, ordinary lifeless days.

"Well Mr. Leonhart," stalking toward Squall, Rinoa planted herself on top of his paperwork, she raised an eyebrow, "how would you feel shacking up with little ole me in a log cabin over Christmas?"

Mimicking Rinoa, Squall rose as eyebrow, smirked and leaned forward, closer to Rinoa's face. "Now that Miss. Heartilly, sounds like a bad idea."

She frowned, "I'm being serious."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not." Receiving a short slap on the arm from Rinoa resulted in Squall chuckling, "'course I'd love to spend my Christmas with you Rinoa. You're my gir-" He stopped in his tracks and mumbling under his breath he stated, "I've been spending far too much time with Irvine."

"Yeah.. You have. 'You're my girl?' That's just... not Squall." She shook her head, forgetting what Squall had just said, "So about Christmas. You're still up for log cabin?" Receiving some sort of grunt which Rinoa knew was a 'yes' and a short wave, she left his room. It still amazed her by how much his personality could change in a split second, not dramatically but still, it changed from time to time. Leaning against Squall's door, she inhaled then smiled. _Only Quistis and Zell left. Shouldn't be too hard... I hope._ With a slight push of of Squall's door, she wondered along the corridor to find Mr. Dincht.

_--_

Hey. Just a couple of notes here- The name for the story came from me listening to Wham! - 'Last Christmas' and so I thought hmm.. Well it's this Christmas and not last Christmas so.. Yeah! Bit of interesting stuff there for you to know. Also, there'll probably be about another chapter or two which should be pretty long, before the end of the story.

I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter, hopefully I'll have it completed before Christmas. So anyways, please read and review, thanks! Relyob


	2. Chapter 2

_**This Christmas -2**_

You know, everybody always thinks that Quistis Trepe's entire life revolves around her work. After the whole Sorceress Ultemecia ordeal people began to write things called 'fanfictions' regarding Quistis, Squall, Seifer and the rest of the gang. She never figured out why. She was just the same as any other individual in the world but anyways, most of these fanfictions which involved Quistis always seemed to have her completely obsessed with her work. This, of course, wasn't the case.

She was delighted to go out with people, meet new friends... New men. _Heh_ Hanging around with Irvine was beginning to get a bit tedious. So, every time something came up which got her away from work or Irvine, she was more than happy to go. Squall never seemed to go out with Quistis to bars, clubs etc. Maybe it was just her, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't particularly enjoy going out to dance in front of people. Zell, funnily enough, surprised her as he also never went out anywhere with her and she had a vague idea that this wasn't because he didn't want to dance in front of people. It was confusing.

_Ahh well._Fiddling with the tiny ornamental snowman which Selphie had given her for no reason whatsoever she thought about Zell. He was such a funny, goofy but loveable guy and it was really strange that he never wanted to go out with Quistis, now that she thought about it._ Zell is pretty weird. Maybe that's why_

"Quistis! You in here?" Constant slamming on the door of Quistis' office woke her up from her thoughts.

She rubbed her temples, "yes Rinoa. Come on in." Her friend tried opening the door multiple times..

"It's locked."

Sighing Quistis hauled herself from her chair, approached the door and unlocked it. "Sorry."

"No worries," Rinoa smiled, "I'm just here to tell you about Christmas plans!"

And that was another thing! In those 'fanfictions' normally Quistis and Rinoa didn't get on due to the fact that Quistis once thought she had loved Squall but she eventually realised that it was only a sisterly love. One that rested their due to the fact that she was always like a big sister to him. The real case was that Rinoa and Quistis got on fine. It was just like the rest of the friendships within the group. "So, what's Selphie got in mind for us then?" Quistis asked, generally interested in the subject.

"Well... Would you mind shacking up with Zell in a log cabin.. Just on Christmas Eve?" Rinoa asked. She raised an eyebrow after several seconds of silence. "We're on quite a tight budget so you're only going to be staying with him by yourself for one night."

"Yeah, sure. I'll stay with Zell." Smiling, she turned to look out the window. "Hey, it's snowing!"

"Seriously?" Rinoa asked. When she seen Quistis' head nodding she ran to the window. Covering the ground was a thin layer of snow. She could see younger students running around in it. Some were throwing snowballs at each other from what they could scrape up from the ground. "... Isn't that Irvine and Zell?"

Not surprisingly it was indeed Irvine and Zell throwing snowballs at each other's faces. From the window Quistis could see Irvine filling his beloved cowboy hat with snow and it looked as though he was.. crying. "What on earth is Irvine doing?"

-

_Muhahahahah__! Pretending to cry is an excellent idea Irvine. Bravo you sexy genius! _Pretending to cry as he crouched on the ground Irvine groaned, "Zell...," he sniffed, "my face..It's so painful!" Hearing Zell's footstep crunching on the snow behind him, he grinned.

"Irvine man, I'm sorry!" Zell was genuinely concerned. Seifer had once smacked him with this huge snowball right in the eye. It wasn't a laughing matter. He reached out to place his hand on his friends shoulder when all of a sudden Irvine spun around and through his cowboy hat straight into Zell's open mouthed face. His face turned a slight shade of red, he frowned, swayed for a while and then eventually fell to the snow all of this taking place whilst Irvine pointed and laughed.

-

"That was classic!" Rinoa screeched also laughing. She opened the window in Quistis' office and shouted down to where Irvine stood. "Nice one Irvine!"

Irvine looked up to where he saw Rinoa waving from Quistis' window. He gave her a thumbs up, winked, poked Zells head a few times then eventually skipped of down the lane in search of another victim to wipe out with his special cowboy snow hat attack.

Quistis chuckled for a moment, and then turning her attention to Rinoa she asked, "How long is it till we leave?"

"Uhh..." She looked to the ceiling, "three days?" Looking at Quistis again, Rinoa's eyes went wide, a light bulb seemed to trigger in her head. "Ahh! That reminds me, Selphie told me to give this to you." Rummaging through her rucksack Rinoa appeared with a small model of a snowman.

Quistis sighed. "Another one?" She lifted the other small snowman which Selphie had given her from her desk. "I've already got a snowman."

"Yeah.. But this ones different. You press the carrot..." Pressing the carrot where, on an ordinary human being that would be where their nose is situated, the snowman began to dance and sing.

"Ohhhhhh!!!" A deep voice began to sing, "the weather outside is frightful but the fire, is so delightful! Since we've no place to go, just let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. It doesn't show..."

Rinoa placed the carrot again to make it stop. "And.. Voila. It sings. Here." She handed the snowman to Quistis. "I've got to run. See you!" Rinoa walked casually out of the office and shut the door behind her.

"Bye!" Quistis called. She sat on her desk inspecting the snowman. Its brown minstrel eyes were staring at her, its carrot nose as pointy as ever, and its black button mouth made the cheesiest grin ever. She liked it, a lot. And smiling she pressed the carrot.

"Ohhhhhh!!! The weather outside is frightful but the fire, is so delightful! Since we've..."

-

Upon waking from his short nap Zell found himself lying in a bath of snow. He could vaguely make out the now blue sky above as a layer of snow rested upon his body. "Uhh.." Rolling over onto his back the snow that rested on him joined the rest of its comrades. Rubbing his eyes Zell looked to the sky. His face was stinging. _"Irvine..." _He muttered"_Damn I'm starving__." _Zell whispered before his stomach growled. Several junior class girls looked at Zell, laughed then casually strolled towards the main building of Balamb Garden. "_Huh?"_

Stretching, Zell walked towards Balamb Garden, his shoes crunching in the now thick layer of snow. It was still snowing, heavier now than he had ever seen it in his entire life. Zells face, now stinging insanely was being even more irritated by the snow falling on it. _My face is itching like crazy! _Still wandering towards Balamb Garden, Zell scratched his cheeks.. _That's funny__ They feel puffier than normal. _Two senior SeeDs strolled past Zell and again, laughed, pointed at his face then pondered off into the distance shouting and laughing whilst they did so.

_Damn! Why do people keep laughing at me!?! _Thinking why people where laughing and pointing at him, Zell followed his growling stomach to the cafeteria where he found both Irvine and Selphie feeding each other random grapes... "Hey Selphie!" Zell said taking a seat beside his friends whilst digging into his hotdog. "Guys is there something up with my face?" He asked, bits of hotdog flying everywhere. "The lunch lady kept laughing at me... As well as other people."

"Hey Ze- Oh my God!" Selphie jumped from her chair and started screaming, "hAHahahAHAHAHAH!!!" She covered her mouth to stop her from laughing but failed, greatly. "Z-Zell! What happened to your face!?!"

Irvine also laughing tried to speak but only managed a, "Cheeks!"

"W-what?!" Zell stuttered. Not having a clue what they were talking about made him just a tad on the nervous side. "M-my face? What's wrong!?" He began feeling his face. "It feels different! Oh my Lord, what the hell's happened to my face?!! I need a mirror, MIRROR!!!!"

"Zell..." Chuckling Selphie laughed, "Here!" She threw him a mirror which she just so happened to be carrying. "It's uhh.. not so bad."

"OH MY GOD!" Zell, clearly frustrated, eyes began to swell with tears. "This is a-all your fault Irvine. You smacked me with that stupid cow boy hat full of snow! My cheeks are completely swollen, I look like a flippin' donkeys ass!"

"It's fine." Selphie tried to console him, "Psch... you wouldn't even notice it." Upon hearing this Zell burst into tears. He buried his head into Selphie's shoulder as she rubbed her back. Pointing to Irvine she mouthed, 'apologise!'

Irvine nodded. "Zell I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Mfsh shu fid!!"

"Huh? Zell could you repeat that..?" Within a few seconds Zell's swollen cheeks were right in front of Irvine's face, "AHHHH!" He screamed, jumping back.

Stamping his foot on the ground, Zell repeated once again, "YES YOU DID!!!"

"Zell!"

"Huh?"

(I would advise you to listen to Candy Shop by 50 Cent right now...)

An aura of maturity suddenly ran through the air, the Trepies howled as a young, attractive, blond woman came walking into the cafeteria. With her seductive whip in one hand and her leather suit- It was of course, none other than Miss. Trepe. "Zell?" Quistis asked with one eyebrow reason, eyeing the swollen-cheeked martial artist. "_I hear you've been a naughty boy, now take me to the candy shop!"_

"Uhh.. I'll take you to the candy shop; I'll let you lick the lollypop. Go 'head girl don't you stop! Keep going till you hit my spot; whoa!!"

"Zell? What the hell are you talking about?"

_Oh shit! I must of imagined her saying that_"Oh umm sorry, I was listening to Candy Shop earlier. My bad, it was still in my head so.. Yes." Zell scratched his head. "You called me, no?"

"Yes... Yes I did." Quistis muttered still feeling a little weird after Zell's little.. Comment. "Ahem.. Has Rinoa told you about the Christmas plans yet?" She clasped her hands together. "Something's changed about you by the way..." She added after staring at Zell for several moments. "Wait. I've got it, it's your cheeks! Why are they so swollen?" Quistis asked, generally sounding concerned about Zell.

Pointing to Irvine Zell groaned. "Ask him."

"Look!" Irvine said, holding his hands up defensively, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you up the face.."

"Yes you did!!"

"Well... I did.. Yeah. Sorry."

Quistis coughed. "Okay. So, has Rinoa told you yet?"

"Nope."

Selphie began to frantically jump up and down until Quistis acknowledged her. She asked Quistis to allow her to tell Zell about Christmas and shacking up with the blond, and since it was Selphie who had come up with the idea well, in actual fact it was Rinoa but Selphie was just telling everybody that it was her and Rinoa didn't care, Quistis agreed. "You're gonna be shacking up with Quistis in a log cabin on Christmas Eve!!!" She screeched.

"Seriously?" Zell asked, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Seriously!!"

Quistis who was now smirking in the corner stepped up to the stand, "how does that sound Zell?"

"Well... That sounds brilliant! When do we leave???"

--

Hey again. Well I'm on track; hopefully last chapter should be up by next Monday. This was pretty rushed cause I'm really busy with January tests etc. So, I apologise with all of the spelling mistakes I may have made and hope you enjoyed this chapter. Uhh the random bit about Candy Shop, I apologise for that. The song was on the radio and it just sorta got put in there. Apologies.

Next one will be all of them on Christmas Eve in each of their log cabins, till then- Laters!


	3. Chapter 3

_**This Christmas –Finale**_

The time had finally come for the three empty log cabins to be filled with the presence of six friends.

_It was Christmas Eve,__ the day of the year that he treasured most. A time to spend a full evening with the person he cherished most. __A time to spend a full evening – and no interruptions- with Rinoa Heartilly.__The most annoying yet beautiful person that had ever entered his life.__ -Squall._

_It was finally here, this would be the one shot that a certain male would have to express his feelings for a certain female. Beautiful, intelligent, mature, blond! What else could he hope for? __For her to feel the same way as he did...?__ It was a slim chance since not once had he ever noticed her showing more than just the 'friend' signs. But still, he would bring forth his feelings; which could equal either the start of a blooming relationship with the woman he thought that he loved or a complete break in the friendship that they had had since __they were children. It was a ris__k he decided to take. -Zell._

_Maybe tonight would be the night that he lost his virginity (_Yeah, right..) _Enough of this...__Pretending to be a ladies' man.__ Tonight, this could come true. Bragging to all his friends would certainly be entertaining for himself__. No more lying about not being a virgin...__Heh.__ –Irvine._

_-_

It was just before seven o' clock and the teenagers had arrived at the receptionist log cabin. Each wearing their monkey hats, scarf's, jumpers and six pairs of socks on each foot, they huddled together to keep the body heat between them circulating.

Positive that it was below freezing point, Selphie's teeth chattered. She tried to tell the receptionist, who by the way looked perfectly fine in the very cold climate of Trabia, but it didn't look like she was listening to Selphie's muffled voice coming through the scarf. Eventually, Selphie prepared herself to let the cold face her bare lips. Pulling her scarf from her mouth she shouted, "Hi! We'reTheSixPeopleFromBalambWhoOrderedTheThreeSmallLogCabins, We'reUnderTheNameOfRinoaHeartilly." All in one breath. Covering her chattering teeth with her scarf she grinned and daydreamed of into her own little world where it was only she and hot chocolate. _Mmmmmm._

The receptionist adjusted her glasses and began to say something which Selphie couldn't make out. When she finished; she stared at them as if they had three heads, never looking away. "Uhh Quistis.." Selphie whispered into her friends' ear. "Could you speak to her... You know the receptionist-language right?"

Quistis nodded. Upon approaching the receptionist she looked at the woman's nametag, smiled homely, removed her scarf and said in the nicest way possible. "Why hello there, uhh... Moomanada?"

"Hello." Moomanada snorted. "Are you the Heartilly party?"

"Yes, yes we are." Again, Quistis smiled and offered to shake the receptionist hand to which she declined and instead turned to her computer.

Typing away on her keyboard, Moomanada stated, "Sorry, sticky fingers, hahahaha!" She snorted.. Again. "Wouldn't want to get you all sticky now, would we? Hahaha!"

"...No. I guess not." As she was quite frankly afraid of this woman, Quistis stepped back into the group of friends and left Selphie to do the rest of the job.

Selphie again pulled her scarf from her mouth, accepted the three keys that Moomanada handed her(Selphie) with her head... and then moved away from the very strange receptionist into the entrance room of the receptionist lobby. Here, a large open fire was burning so the group decided to take of their scarves and gloves. "Ahh" Sinking into the black leather sofas, they relaxed. Selphie gave a key to Quistis and a key to Rinoa.

"Thank you. Well, Zell and I best be going." Quistis smiled hugging Selphie and Rinoa. "Happy Christmas everyone, I'll see you all tomorrow!" About to head toward their log cabin they were stopped by Selphie who gave them just one present between the two. "One? For the both of us."

"Hey, I was on a tight budget. It's thoughtful though!"

Exchanging presents, the group split into three pairs. It was sad to see everybody part their ways, but that's how it goes when you are hoping for a night of just the two of you. C'est la vie. You can't have all your friends strolling around, but that's that. Selphie and Irvine went west with Squall and Rinoa following them as their cabin was only about twenty metres or so from their friends. On the other hand Quistis and Zells cabin was on the far east of the complex.

-

_Irvine & Selphie_

It was a only about a twenty minute walk from the receptionist lobby to their cabin and since surprisingly all four people were chatting away with one another the time past quickly and before long Selphie and Irvine had said their goodbye's to Rinoa and Squall and they were already at the entrance to their cabin. A letter was attached to the door which read, "Have a pleasant time and don't forget to spread the good word! There is also a Barry White cd resting on the fireplace for those who enjoy Mr.Whites music." Selphie looked and smiled at Irvine who just laughed and opened the door for his very good friend.

Upon entering the cabin a blast of warmth hit them like a lightening bolt. It was like entering a foreign enviroment from being out in the freezing cold air of Trabia with snow resting all around to being in this warm, cozy cabin. Large woolen quilts lay on the sofa which sat directly facing the open fire. A bowl of marshmallows with two small metal pokers sat on the table beside the sofa. The fire danced along the wooden walls creating an eerie yet welcoming touch to the cabin.

"Whoa." Selphie twirled around the room, swiping a few marshmallows as she did so. Throwing them into her mouth she said, "Mfio fhur fet hup mit plze!!"

Irvine in awe at the cabin didn't even hear what Selphie was saying. Instead, he just eyed each wall with an astonished face. "This is awesome.."

"I know!" Selphie piped, swallowing the last of the marshmallows. "That's why I said, Rinoa sure hooked us up with this place!" She jumped onto the layers of quilts on the sofa and huddled herself underneath them. "Come on!" She shouted to Irvine.

"Hey hold on a sec, Selph. Arn't you gonna get changed into your pyjama's- s'more comfortable like that. Y'know..." Grinning then shrugging Irvine's eyes went wide when Selphie bounced out of the sofa with her cotton boxer shorts and tank top already on her. "How the...? How'd you get changed so fast!?" He shook his head wheras Selphie just smirked.

"Hurry up and get in here so I can give you your present!" Lifting up a medium sized present wrapped in Christmas tree paper Selphie shook it from side to side. "Come on Irvy, I wana see what you got me." She issued for him to come into the sofa like bed thing but instead he lifted his index finger and shook it from side to side.

His facing turning red for some reason he said, "It takes me a while to get changed Selph, so you'll have to wait a second." Turning his back on Selphie, Irvine began rummaging through his bag. _No, no, no, no!!!! This can't be happening!! _Feeling a faint tap on his shoulder he turned to see Selphie.

"Is something wrong?"

"He, he!! NO! Why would you think that???" Scratching the back of his head Irvine decided to quickly change the subject. "You know Selphie, I think I forgot my toatsies.. I should call over to Squalls' cabin y'know.. That ole boy is bound to have an extra pair." Before receiving an answer from Selphie, Irvine sped out the door and was at his friends cabin within the space of a few seconds... Banging hard on the door, he shouted, "HEY!! OPEN UP! S'IRVINE!"

-

_Squall & Rinoa_

_Is this idiot being serious? _"You forgot to buy her a present..?" Squall asked solemnly sipping from his hot mug of hot chocolate- Courtesy of Rinoa. "Are you joking me?" When Irvine shook his head, Squall also shook his and took another sip of the hot chocolate. _This is some damn tasty hot chocolate. _He looked to Rinoa and began nodding his head. _Her hot chocolates always have been tasty. _

"Squall! Stop thinking about Rinoa's hot chocolates and gimme some advice, do you have any ornaments or anything I could give her." Irvine, now on his knees was grabbing onto Squalls black slippers. Squall merely laughed and kicked Irvine of his slippers. "Oh my God. The one time I ever see you laugh and it's because I am in pain!"

Shrugging Irvine's friend clearly stated, "you're an absolute idiot. Christmas like.. And you forgot to buy Selphie a present? Disgraceful. You should take some pages from my book. Plan ahead- way ahead. But I suppose I do feel sorry for you. That is the only reason why I'm speaking so much."

"So you've got an extra present??"

"Nope."

Sniffing Irvine walked out of his friends log cabin, "well thanks.. I guess. Goodbye.."

The door shut and Rinoa approached Squall. The young couple both in their pyjama's. Squall in his black satin trousers and topless because of the heat.. and Rinoa running around in the same type of pyjama's that Selphie had on her. "He forgot to buy her a present, huh?" Rinoa said taking Squalls hand and leading it to the sofa.

Squall nodded.

Both log cabins, (Selphie's and Rinoa's) were both very similiar except instead of a Barry White cd resting on the fireplace it was a Moulin Rouge original sountrack."You know I don't even get why they gave us this." Rinoa stated, playing with Moulin Rouge case. "The films one of the best I've ever seen but it is pretty depressing.. put a downer on our trip, eh?" She smiled whilst Squall had a very serious look on his face.

"Nothing could put a downer on this trip Rinoa. Nothing at all."

-

_Irvine & Selphie_

"OPEN UP! IT'S SQUALL!" Squall who was breaking out in a sweat even though he was shirtless in below freezing point temperatures constantly banged on his friends' cabin door. "DAMNIT, I OPENED UP FOR YOU. NOW DO THE SAME!"

Irvine who looked in a daze calmly opened the door. Chuckling he said, "now how can I help the all and mighty Mr. LEONhartyheartyhart!" Showing all teeth he spun around to Selphie who was waving at Squall. "Selphie!! Look who has joined us on this fine evening! The one who can;t even lend me some toatsies!"

Squall, who was looking pretty angry whispered in Irvine's ear, "you didn't even want toatsies you idiot!"

"Shhhhhhhhh! She hasn't asked about the presents again so shut up!" Letting Squall enter the warmth of the cabin, Irvine asked, "how can we help?"

-.-.-

"Are you being serious Squall?" Selphie asked as the three all lay on the comfy sofa. "How could you forget about packing your present away? That's horrible!" Irvine echoed Squalls words and received menacing glares each and everytime he spoke a single word.

"I know..." Squall hung his head in shame, "it was perfect too and I forgot to pack it... I am an idiot. And I can't go back their empty handed she'll.. We'll be through, she'll never speak to me again! I'm doomed!!" He would have been crying by now if Selphie wasn't their, but he did have a reputation to uphold and he wasn't about to destroy it.

"Hey! I've got an idea!" Selphie suddenly said as a light bulb flickered in her mind. She always was the thoughtful one in the group. Remember, her idea for blowing up the missile launch base. Without Selphie many a people may have died. _Yep, I am one smart little cookie. _Smiling inwardly to herself she felt somebody shake her left shoulder. "Yes?" Selphie asked Irvine.

"Your idea Selph?"

"Oh yeah!" Bouncing of the sofa for the second time of the night Selphie sprung to the middle of the room, in front of the fire. The SeeD music randomly started to play and Balamb Gardens flag could be seen waving behind Selphie. "I had a dream!" She began, "And that dream was for us to carry out: Operation: Mission It's Possible!" She placed her hands on her hips while both Irvine and Squall looked at each other blankly. "Alright here's how it goes:" The SeeD music and Balamb Gardens flag eventually disappeared. Whipping out a page and a black marker Selphie drew three stickmen. She pointed to each of them, "Right this is me, and you two. Now, Irvine and I stay here while you run into your log cabin get my present to Rinoa bring it back to me so I can scribble out my name and then you write your name on it. Then you run back to your cabin and presto, a lovely Christmas Eve."

"Hold on a second." Squall started, "why can't I just scribble out your name?"

"Cause me and Rin know each others scribbles, now get going!" Selphie ushered him out of the door and gave Squall a blanket to wrap around him.

Before leaving he just need to know one more thing, "Selphie.." Squall asked, "What did you get her?"

"Oh, oh!!!" Selphie began to bounce, getting all excited. "This really uber cool mechanical pencil! We seen it in a shop window the other week, hey you were with us. Wasn't it so cool?"

Squall groaned... "Yeah I bought her it that day... Damn! Now I can't give her it. Irvine! What did you get her?"

"Zilch."

Selphie apologised for him, "Sorry Squall, he spent all his money on my present. Anyways I'm sorry about you forgetting your present as well but I'm sure Rin'll understand. Good luck, and happy Christmas Eve!"

"Yeah.."Squall replied very weakly, trotting through the snow he whispered. "Shit."

-

_Zell & Quistis_

"Whe-hey-hey!! Check me out!" Zell had randomly found a large spear sitting on a rack on the wall. This log cabin was much bigger but still no electrical appliances just a comfy looking sofa and a one-seater in the corner which neither of the other two cabins had. Quistis and Zell had already opened their presents from their friends but were leaving each others until midnight. It looked as though Selphie had bought Zell and Quistis some kind of crown thing to wear and he now stood on top of the one seater with the spear in one hand, a marshmallow on the other and his crown on his head. "Just call me The King from now on Quis. You know you want to." He said, only half-joking.

"Damn right I do." _How in the world did Selphie think this was thoughtful?! _Quistis replied sarcastically taking a bite from one of the marshmallows she had toasted on the fire. "Anyways get down from there Zell, they'll end up making us pay for the damage which is something neither of us can do right now since we are fairly out of cash." It was good like this just the two of them with no real worries about Garden stuff or soceresses trying to take over the world. Everything was grand, as it should be all the time. "Zell?"

Zell, who was sitting on the one seater alone, looked to Quistis, "Yep?"

"Come on over to this sofa, it's far more comfortable than on that rock." Quistis pulled the blankets aside and let one of her best friends hop in the sofa beside her.

"Thank you." Zell answered snuggling to the blankets. "So.. you ever stayed in a log cabin before?"

"Nope." She offered Zell a marshmallow. He accepted, "What about you Zell?"

"Nah. I was supposed to at the scouts but they found that their was some endangered species there, some toad or something. So we didn't get staying. Anyways I'm sure they would have been nothing like this, they wern't in the snow or nothin' and it was all lads so I could never have been shacked up with someone as ... beautiful as you Quistis." Turning away Zells face went bright red. _Someone asa beautiful as you? Moron! _"Uhh..Truly sorry about that."

"Don't be. That's one of the nicest compliments I've ever had in my entire life. Thank you Zell." The two friends eyed one another and were closing the gap between them when the grandfather clock in the corner rang, 11 o' clock it read. "Oh my! I'm so sorry." Quistis was first to apologise, she began dusting herself down, avoiding eye contact with Zell.

Shaking his head, Zell gently placed his hand underneath Quistis' chin and raised her head so that it was level with his. "You are one of the most beautiful people I have ever met in my entire life Quistis and I want to thank you for that, so please..." He inched in again but this time Quistis was not about to be caught up in the moment.

"I'm sorry Zell, we're good friends.. It isn't right."

"Yeah.." Zell agreed softly. For a few minutes it was awkward but eventually Zell dosed of and Quistis made way for the door. For a breath of fresh air.

-.-.-

She didn't reallise how long she had been out there until she heard a few of the birds chirping in the distance. Realising that it must be near morning she hurried back to the cabin to find Zell spread out across the sofa. Not wanting to disturb him she sat on the one seater and slept a peaceful sleep.Zell was first to awake in the morning, he gently carried Quistis' sleeping body onto the larger sofa and tucked her into the quilts. Toasting marshmallows on the still lit fire he watched her until she awoke. When she was up and running as normal, she took a seat beside Zell. The two watched the fire, "Zell. I'm sorry ab-"

"Dont' be Quistis" Placing the marshmallow up to her mouth, he grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Friends?"

She ate it without objection. "The best."

-

_Irvine & Selphie_

Although Operation: Mission It's Possible! was a failure, the night that Irvine and Selphie shared together was not a failure. She still hadn't asked anything about the present but Irvine had figured that Selphie had already known. So he decided to tell her, turns out: She didn't. Still, for not lying to her Selphie forgave him and once and for all Irvine had finally become a one ladies man and he was darn well proud of it.

-

_Squall & Rinoa_

The clock had just struck 11 and Squall had just confessed to Rinoa that he had forgotten to pack her present away. _This is it. My relationship with Rinoa Heartilly ends on Christmas Eve at 11 o' clock. All because of some stupid packing away present. _The two were lying on the sofam Rinoa's head resting upon Squall's lap whilst he ran his bare fingers throughout her hair. She had given him her present to him, it was a gunblade, 'The Lionheart' a gunblade he had been moaning on about for the past months but he never had the items to create it. He was ashamed of himelf. "I'm really sorry Rinoa. Honestly and I swear I did buy you something.. I... I just.. forgot t-to pac-"

"Squall." Rinoa stated firmly, "alright, so what? You forgot to pack the present, I don't really care. The present that I've always wanted can come from you." She said softly still resting on Squalls lap. Feeling his legs tense she smirked.

He stopped running his fingers through her hair for he was confused, "W-what do you mean, from me?"

"I've heard you." Rinoa answered, not bothering to look up, "so there's no denying it. I hear you all the time in the shower and your really good. So what I want from you is.. for you to sing a song to me."

"What?"

She didn't answer instead she waited. Just to see if he would actually sing. It was a slim chance that he would, he probably felt embarrassed but Rinoa wouldn't care, she asked him to sing, so why would he feel the need to be embarrassed. It was silent for a while but at least he resumed massaging her head. It was really nice. Seriously. _He could've been a massage person if he wern't Commander._

_"Well it's a marvellous night... For a moondance... With the stars up above in your eyes... A fantabulous night to make romance... 'Neath the cover of December skies.."_

They made romance that night, underneath the cover of December skies and this night would be the beginning of many more fantabulous Decembers for both young Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly.

-

For each year the six friends would come back to Trabia sometimes like they did this year and other times when they were all together. Everytime they had an absolute blast either they be as lovers or friends.

-

Hey! I am so sorry, seriously. My labtops keyboard has broke and it was taking me about a year to type 'the' on the on-screen keyboard thing so I'm typing this up on my brothers girlfriends' labtop and if they find my head will literally be screamed of. But sure, me using the labtop was for a good reason. I hope you all have enjoyed this story cause I really enjoyed writing it and have a happy, full of excitment and achivements- 2008! I hope I will. :D

By the way toatsies are woolly socks that you normally wear before you go to bed. Where I live that's what we call them. One more thing, I thought Squall would have sounded like Jonathan Rhys Meyers in August Rush so if you hear that then you'll know why I chose that. :)

Apologies for spelling mistakes it's a bit late, 2.06am so my heads a bit out there.

Laters!


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